Stats: Smith becomes third quickest to 22 Test tons

Australia pulverized all hopes of an England comeback in the Ashes series on the third day of the Perth Test, ending 146 runs ahead. They lost a solitary wicket the entire day's play and scored 346 runs putting the entire English bowling attack under the sword. Steve Smith led the way, scoring his 22nd Test hundred and a career-best unbeaten 229 while Mitchell Marsh scored his maiden Test hundred (181*). The duo has added 301 runs so far and is unseparated at the end of day's play.

Stat highlights from the third day's play at the WACA:

229* by Smith is his highest individual score in 59 Tests, eclipsing the 215 he made at Lord's in 2015. Smith also became the fourth player to score multiple Ashes double hundreds after Don Bradman (8), Wally Hammond (4) and Bob Simpson (2).

138 balls taken by Smith to reach his hundred - the quickest he reached the milestone going past the 140-ball effort against New Zealand at the same venue in 2015. Earlier in the series, he recorded his slowest Test hundred - off 261 balls - in the first Test at the Gabba.

108 Innings taken by Smith to score 22 Test hundreds - the third quickest of all time after Don Bradman's 58 and Sunil Gavaskar's 101. This was his 14th as captain in Tests and only Bradman (37) and Mahela Jayawardene (50) have reached there in fewer innings than Smith.

4 Successive years where Smith aggregated 1000-plus runs, starting from 2014. He has scored 1146 runs in 2014, 1474 runs in 2015, 1079 runs in 2016 and 1117 so far in 2017. Only Matthew Hayden has done it more often in succession - five years between 2001 and 2005.

Steve Smith's last four years in Tests

Year

Tests

Inngs

Runs

Highest

Avg

100s

50s

2014

9

17

1146

192

81.85

5

4

2015

13

24

1474

215

73.70

6

5

2016

11

18

1079

165*

71.93

4

5

2017

10

18

1117

229*

74.46

5

2

3 Scores higher than Smith's unbeaten 229 at the WACA. Only Matthew Hayden (380), Ross Taylor (290) and David Warner (253) have scored more in an innings here. The previous highest by any captain at this venue was 176 by the 41-year old Bob Simpson against India in 1977.

2 Smith is only the second Australian batsman to score a double hundred in an Ashes Test at home since 1971. The only other batsman to do so was Justin Langer who scored 250 at the MCG in 2002.

Highest Score for Australian captains

Player

Runs

Balls

Inngs#

Venue

Start Date

Bob Simpson

311

743

1

Manchester

23-Jul-64

Don Bradman

270

375

3

Melbourne

1-Jan-37

Don Bradman

234

396

2

Sydney

13-Dec-46

Steve Smith

229*

390

2

Perth

14-Dec-17

Bob Simpson

225

427

2

Adelaide

28-Jan-66

1966 The last instance of an Australian captain scoring an Ashes double hundred at home - 225 by Bob Simpson in Adelaide in 1966. The last Australian skipper to score an Ashes double hundred was Allan Border - 200* in Leeds in 1993.

181* by Mitchell Marsh is the highest by an Australian number six since 197 by Ricky Ponting against Pakistan at the same venue in 1999. The last Australian number six to score 150 in an Ashes Test at home was Doug Walters, who scored 155 at the Gabba in 1965.

301-run stand between Smith and Marsh is the second-highest fifth-wicket partnership in 44 Tests at the WACA after 327 by Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting against Pakistan in 1999. It is the third highest fifth-wicket stand by any side against England after 405 by Bradman and Sid Barnes at the SCG in 1946 and the unbeaten 332 by Steve Waugh and Allan Border at Leeds in 1993.

Highest fifth wicket partnership

Partners

Runs

For

In

Out

Ground

Start Date

S Barnes/ D Bradman

405

Aus

4/159

5/564

Sydney

13-Dec-46

A Border/ S Waugh

332*

Aus

4/321

4/653

Leeds

22-Jul-93

M Marsh/ S Smith

301*

Aus

4/248

4/549

Perth

14-Dec-17

M Elliott/ R Ponting

268

Aus

4/50

5/318

Leeds

24-Jul-97

S Nurse/ G Sobers

265

WI

4/154

5/419

Leeds

4-Aug-66

Asad Shafiq/ Shoaib Malik

248

Pak

4/251

5/499

Abu Dhabi

13-Oct-15

3 This Test was the third instances of both sides putting up stands of 200 or higher in a Test. Dawid Malan and Johnny Bairstow put together 237 for England while Smith and Marsh have so far put together 301 for Australia. The two previous instances were - Windies against England in Port of Spain in 2009 and Sri Lanka against Bangladesh in Galle in 2013.